Bears QB Jay Cutler did not return from Sunday's game at Washington after injuring his groin. / Brad Mills, USA TODAY Sports

by Tom Pelissero, USA TODAY Sports

by Tom Pelissero, USA TODAY Sports

How long will it take the NFC to produce six teams that look like they deserve to be in the playoffs?

Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler's groin injury in Sunday's 45-41 loss to the Washington Redskins only further clouded the standings as the season's midpoint approaches.

Only three teams - the Seattle Seahawks, New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers - ended Sunday with at least five victories. The Green Bay Packers rolled Cleveland to improve to 4-2 and figure to be there as well. Everyone else seems interchangeable.

The Dallas Cowboys took the lead in the NFC East by putting together the less nauseating performance in Sunday's slopfest with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Bears, Detroit Lions and St. Louis Rams all missed chances to gain ground. And two playoff teams from a year ago, the Redskins and Atlanta Falcons, earned their second wins to retain hope.

The last time an NFC team earned a wild card with fewer than 10 wins was 2008, when the Eagles got in at 9-6-1. Two teams, the 2010 Giants and 2012 Bears, have missed the playoffs since at 10-6. It's hard to imagine that happening in 2013.

More than half the season remains, of course. But with a few exceptions, the conference that supposedly was superior coming in looks like a muddled mess of mediocrity through seven weeks.

- After the Todd Collins and Caleb Hanie disasters of 2010 and '11, the Bears started the trend of paying top dollar for backup quarterbacks, giving Jason Campbell a one-year, $3.5 million deal last season. But Campbell struggled in his lone start for Chicago, which let him go in free agency and ended up bringing back journeyman Josh McCown as Cutler's backup on a one-year, $865,000 deal. That seemed to be a calculated gamble that Cutler - who last played all 16 games in 2009 - would stay healthy, given McCown's limited playing the time over the past five years and 71.2 career passer rating entering Sunday. If so, that gamble was lost, no matter how competent McCown looked against one of the NFL's worst defenses.

- Jets quarterback Geno Smith will get plenty of attention for outdueling Patriots quarterback Tom Brady - with help from one ill-timed unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. But give coach Rex Ryan and his staff credit for a defense that's giving the Jets a chance every week. They've been one of the NFL's best units against the run. And they made enough plays in the passing game Sunday - sacking Brady four times and forcing an interception Antonio Allen returned 23 yards for a pivotal touchdown coming out of the half. This was the recipe that got them to consecutive conference title games, and their place in the AFC East race has to rank among the season's biggest surprises so far.

- The NFL has given Redskins safety Brandon Meriweather enough chances. It has to suspend him after he delivered two more illegal hits in Sunday's win vs. the Bears, little more than a month after the league fined him $42,000 for concussing Packers running back Eddie Lacy with a helmet to the chin. Meriweather, 29, told USA TODAY Sports then he planned to appeal and said he'd try to change his tackling technique. But he has been fined at least five times the past four years for dangerous play. He is making $1.2 million this season. Docking him money isn't doing any good. Banning him for a game or two might not either, but if the NFL wants to create the impression it cares about player health and safety, that's the only option.

- There may not have been as many upsets as it feels like so far this season. Entering Sunday, favorites were 65-28 straight up and 48-42-3 against the spread, according to the Bovada Sportsbook.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

19 Career return touchdowns for Chicago Bears return man Devin Hester, who took back a second-quarter punt 81 yards for a score against the Washington Redskins to tie Deion Sanders for the most in NFL history.

11 Punts in the Dallas Cowboys-Philadelphia Eagles game before Dallas broke open the scoring on a 38-yard field goal with 3:18 left in the first half.

6 Seasons the Miami Dolphins went without a wide receiver scoring multiple touchdowns in a game before Brandon Gibson did it against the Buffalo Bills. The last was Marty Booker on Thanksgiving in 2006 against the Detroit Lions.

5 Defenses that scored in the first quarter of Sunday's early games. Carolina Panthers cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, Bills cornerback Nickell Robey and New England Patriots safety Logan Ryan had pick-sixes, Atlanta Falcons safety Thomas DeCoud had a fumble return and the St. Louis Rams recorded a safety. A sixth defense, the Lions, had a fumble recovery for a touchdown wiped out by offsides.

2 Matchups in NFL history involving two players drafted No. 1 overall by the same team - including Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck. The other pair: John Elway and Jeff George, who also were drafted No. 1 by the Colts, though Elway never played for them in Baltimore.

1 Punch referees said was thrown by Rams defensive end Chris Long, who got ejected for his role in a fracas against the Panthers.

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TAKEAWAYS

Tampa Bay 23: A one-handed touchdown grab highlighted a huge day for Vincent Jackson, who remains one of the NFL's best. Too bad he's stuck in Tampa.

ATLANTA 31: Matt Ryan needs to rise up with so many weapons sidelined. He did it Sunday, keeping hope alive, however dim.

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St. Louis 15: Talk about coming unglued when things get physical. If Kellen Clemens has to start, it could really get ugly.

CAROLINA 30: The talent is there to make a playoff push. After a visit to winless Tampa next week, though, the schedule is a bear.

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Cincinnati 27: A costly win: the defense won't be the same if Leon Hall, carted off with another Achilles' injury, is finished.

DETROIT 24: The good news is Calvin Johnson appears healthy again. The bad news is that secondary.

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San Diego 24: Philip Rivers' brainless scramble with no timeouts before halftime might have hurt against a legitimate foe.

JACKSONVILLE 6: Has any offense ever looked more shocked and disoriented upon actually reaching the red zone?

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Buffalo 23: Two early interceptions gave the Bills a chance, and nine third-down conversions kept the chains moving.

MIAMI 21: Ryan Tannehill rebounded for his first three-TD game. But three straight losses have exposed flaws.

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New England 27: Rob Gronkowski was targeted 17 times in his return and caught eight for 114 yards. If only he'd held onto one more.

Dallas 17: The pass rush clearly isn't the same without DeMarcus Ware. That could be trouble next week at Detroit.

PHILADELPHIA 3: What was your favorite Nick Foles moment? If there was any doubt in coaches' minds, it's gone: Mike Vick will be back at quarterback.

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Chicago 41: If Jay Cutler misses time, there will be a whole lot of pressure on an aging defense that gave up 499 yards Sunday.

WASHINGTON 45: For the first time, Robert Griffin III and Alfred Morris revived memories of last year's two-headed rushing monster.

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San Francisco 31: Colin Kaepernick is back on track and the 49ers quietly are hanging in the NFC West race with four straight wins.

TENNESSEE 17: Darius Reynaud may finally be out of chances after his latest goof, a muffed punt, handed the 49ers a late TD.

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Cleveland 13: One reason the Browns might not trade Josh Gordon is it's tough to get value when he can disappear like this.

GREEN BAY 31: A scary injury to Jermichael Finley might be the worst blow yet to a receiving corps that's short on options.

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Houston 16: Finding a quarterback who's not a turnover machine helped. But now the injuries are starting to add up.

KANSAS CITY 17: Lost in the Chiefs' seventh straight win was an awfully shaky performance by Alex Smith.

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Baltimore 16: The offense goes as Ray Rice does, and right now, he's not - 2.7 yards per carry over the past three weeks.

PITTSBURGH 19: Would the Steelers have started 0-4 if rookie Le'Veon Bell had been available from Week 1?

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Denver 33: Peyton Manning had a tough time getting the ball to Demaryius Thomas, negative offensive trickle down was evident.

Indianapolis 39: Sure, the Colts allowed 33 points, but their defense was the difference in this one.

TODAY

Minnesota at N.Y. Giants, 8:40 p.m. ET, ESPN

Former Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman makes his starting debut for the Vikings, who are in a desperate situation against the winless Giants. After last week's 35-10 loss to the Panthers, another embarrassment could yield swift changes. The teams' combined .090 winning percentage is the worst this late in the season in the history of "Monday Night Football," according to the Elias Sports Bureau.